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August 2024

commentary

The State of Public Education in 2024 in Five Charts
Every year RAND sends more than a dozen surveys to members of the American Educator Panels to keep tabs on what is happening in classrooms around the country. When we looked back on the last 12 months of reports based on our surveys, these are the findings that told us the most about the state of American public schools.
Aug 30, 2024

q&a

Forecasting Like a Pro: Q&A with Jordan Despanie
Jordan Despanie is a technology and security policy fellow at RAND with interests spanning biosecurity, artificial intelligence, open-source intelligence, and foreign policy. The RAND Forecasting Initiative asked him to share insights on how he achieved top-tier forecaster status to inform its approach toward recruiting and training forecasters across RAND.
Aug 29, 2024
article

Social Media Manipulation in the Era of AI
AI has opened a potential propaganda gold mine. Large language models like ChatGPT can learn to mimic human speech. They can respond to jokes and cultural references and engage users in debates. Social media platforms should redouble their efforts to identify, attribute, and remove fake accounts.
Aug 29, 2024
commentary

Today's Drinking Water Quality Challenges Require New Approaches
Despite advances in technology and increasing regulation, many in the United States still face challenges accessing safe drinking water. Keeping America's water safe requires new approaches to monitoring, tracking, and treatment.
Aug 28, 2024
article

How to Manage Escalation with Nuclear Adversaries Like China
The United States needs a theory of victory that explains how it plans to win a potential future war with China without triggering a nuclear war. Three historical crises that played out under the shadow of nuclear weapons hold some important lessons.
Aug 28, 2024
commentary

Cultivating the Magic Sauce for Surviving Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest vary significantly by location, highlighting the need to identify and disseminate best practices from high-performing communities. What are the key factors that improve survival?
Aug 27, 2024
commentary

Don't Ever Invade China: Xi Jinping Prioritizes Border, Coastal, and Air Defense
China's national defense policy prioritizes safeguarding national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights with an emphasis on border, coastal, and air defense. Leader Xi Jinping underscored mainland defense in a recent speech. What does Beijing’s carefully crafted, high-profile political signaling tell us?
Aug 27, 2024
commentary

Addressing the National Security Risks of Bulk Data in the Age of AI 
There is an urgent need for a more nuanced and empirically grounded approach to data regulation, one that recognizes how seemingly innocuous data points can, when amassed in large quantities, pose substantial risks to national security.
Aug 23, 2024
commentary

Rampant Nationalism Is Undermining China's 'Three Warfares'
China has invested a fortune in influence operations to shape its national image and sway international public opinion in its favor. Yet grassroots Chinese nationalists are diminishing the return on Beijing's investment.
Aug 23, 2024
commentary

Four Fallacies of AI Cybersecurity
The cybersecurity of AI systems has largely been treated as an afterthought. Success in this area will require recognizing the unique challenges of securing AI systems, developing the right threat models, and fully integrating cybersecurity into the AI workflow.
Aug 23, 2024
commentary

Ukraine Has Found a Path to Victory
Ukraine has pulled off an operation that could buy time to regenerate and reequip its forces. The Kursk incursion puts in doubt Russia's ability to launch any major offensives for the rest of the year. Given sufficient Western aid, Kyiv could have the capability to begin restoring its territory in 2025.
Aug 23, 2024
commentary

Realizing the Power of Community in Disaster Recovery
Communities—not governments—are often the primary agents driving disaster recovery. Understanding their needs, improving resource allocation, and measuring results can better leverage the community's power and promote successful disaster management preparation, responses, and outcomes.
Aug 23, 2024
commentary

It's Time to Designate Venezuela as a State Sponsor of Terrorism
In light of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the strengthened Tehran-Hezbollah-Caracas axis now presents a major security threat for the Latin American and Caribbean region. The U.S. government should designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism and crack down on its brazen violation of international law.
Aug 22, 2024
commentary

Trump 2.0 Would Get Mixed Responses in the Indo-Pacific
The responses from across the Indo-Pacific to a second Trump administration are likely to be mixed, with the determining factor being whether the country in question maintains a close relationship with the United States.
Aug 22, 2024
commentary

Bolstering the Role of Emergency Departments as Part of the Nation's Critical Infrastructure
Emergency departments are on the front line of the nation's response to mass-casualty incidents, disasters, and public health emergencies. They need adequate resources and they need to be systematically incorporated into local, state, and regional disaster networks.
Aug 22, 2024
article

Teachers Are Still Stressed and Underpaid Post-COVID
This school year will be the fifth since COVID emptied classrooms and upended education as we knew it. Student test scores have not recovered. Districts nationwide report lingering staff shortages. And teachers still work long hours, earn relatively low salaries, and are stressed out.
Aug 22, 2024

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